Day: May 30, 2019

Thakur Ranjit Singh Fiji Girmit Foundation New Zealand decided to introduce Girmit Legacy Awards to recognise Fiji-Indians, who have hitherto been somewhat ignored. Girmit Legacy Awards have been established to fill the void. These Awards recognise the achievements of the descendants of Girmityas for bringing pride, joy, sense of belonging and social cohesion to what our ancestors bequeathed us: A…

Staff Reporter The search for new opportunities and the certainty of reliable services and infrastructure has fuelled an unprecedented rise in rural-to-urban drift Fiji’s Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama has said. Speaking at the first Roundtable Discussions of the UN Habitat Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, he said that government can stem the rising tide by…

Landlords have just a month to ensure their rental properties meet the 2016 insulation requirements or face exemplary damages of up to $4000. The new regulations come into effect on July 1, 2019. Tenancy Compliance and Investigations said that there will be no extension. From 1 July 2019, a landlord who has not installed ceiling and floor insulation where reasonably…

Staff Reporter A New Zealand licensed Immigration Adviser (Mr JS), had a complaint brought against him by a client, an applicant for a long term business visa. Apart from the routine negligence, bad advice and so on, these allegations were serious; they included fraudulently providing false documents to Immigration New Zealand (INL), without the applicant’s knowledge. The applicant also alleged…

Venkat Raman The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has undertaken a detailed evaluation of Loan-to-Value Ratio restrictions (LVR) as a part of a wider review of Macroprudential Policy. Deputy Governor and Financial Stability Head Geoff Bascand said that by improving the resilience of households and banks, the LVR Policy has played a useful role in promoting financial stability during a…

Venkat Raman Awards and citations are not new for Ajay Kumar, Managing Director of Global Finance but two honours conferred on him last month are worthy of special mention. ANZ Bank and AIA New Zealand, respectively the largest commercial bank and insurance company (the latter one of the largest in the world), named him ‘Platinum Partner 2018’ (as the largest…

Sam Sachdeva The results of a review into bullying and harassment in the Parliamentary workplace may not be entirely surprising – but that does not make them any less horrifying. The question now is whether systemic change is possible. That the findings of Debbie Francis’ inquiry into the toxic workplace culture at Parliament were not a shock is perhaps the…

Employers don’t get caught out! Compliance by employers with minimum employment standards is a serious concern for the Labour Inspectorate. Penalties for non-compliance can be up to $100,000 (for a company) and even more for financial gain, plus the risk of negative publicity and hiring bans. Employers are being warned about the importance and consequences of meeting their minimum employment…

Venkat Raman India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand Sanjiv Kohli, who has just left the country after completing a full three-year term as the Head of his country’s Mission in Wellington, has been a popular diplomat among his host government and the Diaspora, although he feels that he could have done more. “There are certain things that you would have…

Editorial One Issue 416, May 15, 2019 The people of India have handed their decision in no uncertain terms- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Leader Narendra Modi has created political history by trouncing the Indian National Congress, which was humiliated for the first time in its 134-year history, throwing it into oblivion. In more ways than one, the…